We’ve once again reached the point in the Nintendo Direct cycle where everyone starts getting itchy for new announcements. Luckily for those folks, it seems the next Nintendo Direct could be a proper banger if reports are to be believed.
According to serial leaker Jeff Grubb and GamesBeat managing editor Mike Minotti on the latest episode of Grubb’s Game Mess podcast, Nintendo plans to announce a pair of Zelda remasters headed to the Switch. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD were both released on the Wii U during its lifetime. Nintendo’s propensity for porting the Wii U’s better exclusives to the Switch for a second bite at the apple is well founded. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has been paying off for Ninty for the better part of a decade, so porting two of the more well-known Zelda remasters would make a lot of sense.
There’s also the fact that most of us would quite like to have Wind Waker and Twilight Princess on the Switch as much for nostalgia as posterity. They’re formative games, both unique in the Zelda pantheon. If we can keep rolling the N64 games onto new platforms, Wind Waker and Twilight Princess should also get a run.
“Yeah, I think there’s going to be a lot of Zelda stuff at this thing,” Grubb says. “I think this is like a Zelda blowout for Nintendo.”
For Grubb’s part, he’s convinced that September will be a Direct month, though he’s less certain what shape it will take. “100% there’s a Nintendo Direct in September. It’s that simple,” he says. “There is still some uncertainty about whether this will be a general (Direct), maybe a Mini. There was some talk of it being a Partner Direct”.
But Wind Waker and Twilight Princess on the Switch is not the only bombshell Grubb and Minotti had to drop: apparently, Nintendo has a Metroid Prime remaster up its sleeve too.
However, as Grubb correctly states, if Nintendo has first-party games up its sleeve like these, this couldn’t strictly be a Partner Direct. Nintendo wouldn’t reserve medium-to-heavy hitters like these for a third-party showcase. Rather, it would likely want to hold them for a more full-blooded Direct or perhaps a short, sharp Direct Mini.
“If they’re going to have Zelda stuff there, this is not a Partner Direct, and those are the things that we’ve been hearing,” Grubb continues. “The specifics that were name-dropped were Twilight Princess and Wind Waker HD ports to the Switch.
“Which, again, even had we not heard that, I would be speculating that that would be happening right now while we wait for the run-up to Breath of the Wild 2. And yet we have heard that, and we’ve heard other things, again Metroid Prime remaster, that sounds like it’s got to be announced at something like this.
“And then third parties will be showing up,” he finishes. “I’ve heard some of that as well, it’s not super exciting the things I’ve heard. To me, it sounds like at least a Mini Direct, but if it’s going to have the name of the next Zelda, which seems like a distinct possibility, that sounds like a big general Direct.”
Minotti was more measured in his comments, stating that, based on his sources, he felt everything beyond the Zelda remasters was speculation.
“The Metroid Prime thing seems like it should be happening,” said Minotti. “It’s a lot of remasters to announce in one thing, but maybe that will be a little bit of a theme here.” If such a remaster were on the way, 2022 would be a good moment to launch it. Metroid Prime will celebrate its 20th anniversary in November, which, Grubb has previously said, is precisely when Nintendo intends to drop it.
According to Grubb’s source, Nintendo is eyeing a date within the week of September 12th.
Time’s going to tell on all of the above. Should Nintendo decide to drop a Direct this month, we’ll let you know when and where you can see it.
Source: VGC
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